Billionaires Earned a Lot of Money During the Pandemic

The pandemic devastated various industries all over the world. Nevertheless, the wealth of the world’s ten richest men doubled from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion since the beginning of the pandemic. In total, billionaires added trillions of dollars to their fortunes during the pandemic, according to Oxfam.

Oxfam’s new report contains many interesting details about ultra-rich people. The total wealth of billionaires rose from $8.6 trillion in March 2020 to $13.8 trillion in November 2021, a bigger increase than in the previous 14 years combined. 

The report prepared by Oxfam was released ahead of the World Economic Forum’s online Davos Agenda. Oxfam is a global confederation that consists of 21 member organizations, and it argues that governments should tax gains made by the super-rich during the pandemic. Governments should use the money to fund health care systems, pay for vaccines, etc.

Billionaires and extreme poverty

Tens of millions of people fell into extreme poverty in 2020 and are now living on less than $2 a day. Besides, the number of the world’s poorest rose for the first time in more than 20 years.

One way to improve the situation is to tax the money billionaires earned from the start of the pandemic. Even after the tax, the world’s 10 top ten richest men would still be billionaires. Apart from a one-off windfall tax, governments must also introduce or increase permanent wealth and capital taxes to reduce inequality according to Oxfam’s report. 

Another problem is the lack of vaccines in many countries. Unfortunately, vaccine inequality has become a major issue. Many of the world’s richest countries have huge stockpiles of vaccines while developing countries are struggling to vaccinate their citizens. Billionaires have the opportunity to buy vaccines for hundreds of millions of people. 

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